Osteopathy and Sports Injury

Osteopathy is a natural approach to healthcare and an ideal treatment for most sports injuries. Whether you’re an enthusiastic amateur or an elite professional, an osteopath can help with the prevention and treatment of common sporting injuries.

Pains and strains:

· low back pain (with or without sciatica).

· muscle and ligament injuries.

· knee pain (including lack of mobility and degenerative conditions).

· shoulder, elbow and wrist injuries.

· foot and ankle complaints.

Functional complaints:

· reduced joint flexibility (e.g. suffered by golfers who can’t rotate as well as they used to).

· mechanical limitations (e.g. suffered by gymnasts having difficulty in doing full “splits”).

Injuries caused by overuse:

· tennis and golfer’s elbow.

· jumper’s knee.

· tenosynovitis and tendonitis.

Recurrent injuries.

A healthy sporting life

If you’re taking up a new sporting activity, you should seek the advice of a coach, trainer or instructor, and ask for an appropriate training programme for your age, experience and fitness.  With injuries, especially those to legs or arms, always remember the word PRICED:

Prevent injuries by preparing thoroughly. You should always warm up and stretch before exercise, and warm down and stretch afterwards.

Rest after injury, and give your body time to recover.

Ice should be placed on the injured area as quickly as possible.

Compress the injured area to prevent swelling. Strapping or taping should always be carried out by a qualified person.

Elevate the injured part of the body in order to encourage blood and oxygen to flow to the joints and tissues. This helps the body to heal itself.

Diagnosis should be obtained from a medical expert if you are concerned about the severity of an injury.